Trasak Paem
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Trasak Paem is commonly considered as a lengendary ruler of the
Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire was an empire in Southeast Asia, centered on Hydraulic empire, hydraulic cities in what is now northern Cambodia. Known as Kambuja (; ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 t ...
who presumably died around 1340. His legend is similar to
Nyaung-u Sawrahan Nyaung-u Sawrahan (, ; also Taungthugyi Min c. 924–1001) was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from c. 956 to 1001. Although he is remembered as the Cucumber King in the Burmese chronicles based on a legend, Sawrahan is the earliest ...
in earlier
Burmese Chronicles The royal chronicles of Myanmar ( ; also known as Burmese chronicles) are detailed and continuous chronicles of the Burmese monarchy, monarchy of Myanmar (Burma). The chronicles were written on different media such as parabaik paper, palm-leaf ...
He is the first Khmer sovereign mentioned by the
Cambodian Royal Chronicles The Cambodian Royal Chronicles or Cambodian Chronicles (Rajabansavatar or Rapa Ksatr) are a collection of 18th and 19th century historical manuscripts that focus on the time from around the year 1430 to the beginning of the 16th century. This peri ...
alone. He is the first among a series of nineteen rulers of the Khmer Empire that are presumed to have ruled Cambodia since 443 BC. This list is possibly too short to be credible. The ''Chronicles'' indicate that Trasak Paem (also named Chay) was the royal gardener of a king
Jayavarman IX Jayavarman IX (), also known as Jayavarmadiparamesvara was sovereign of the Khmer Empire from 1327 to 1336. Jayavarman IX was like his father, Indrajayavarman, a convinced Shaivism, Shivaite. This sovereign is the last king mentioned by inscrip ...
as known from
Khmer inscriptions Khmer inscriptions are a corpus of post-5th century historical texts engraved on materials such as stone and metal ware found in a wide range of mainland Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos) and relating to the Khmer civilization ...
.


Biography


Rise of the regicidal gardener

According to the
Cambodian Royal Chronicles The Cambodian Royal Chronicles or Cambodian Chronicles (Rajabansavatar or Rapa Ksatr) are a collection of 18th and 19th century historical manuscripts that focus on the time from around the year 1430 to the beginning of the 16th century. This peri ...
, a certain Chay was born from the union of a
hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
from
Phnom Kulen Phnom Kulen (or Kulen Mountain; , ; ) is a mountain range and a part of Phnom Kulen National Park in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Geography Rather than a hill range, Phnom Kulen is an isolated chain of small mountain plateaux of moderate heig ...
and a peasant woman from the Samre tribe. His skill in growing sweet cucumbers earned him the title of ''Neay Trasac Paem'' (“Chef of Tasty Cucumbers”). He reserved the consumption of it for his king, named Norodom, son of Senaka, who had caused a flood to destroy his land after he angered the ''naga'' king Puchang. King Sihanouk gave Trasak Paem his
spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...
to protect his crops. One night, Chay mortally wounded his sovereign with his weapon when the latter wanted to test his zeal. However, before succumbing, the monarch demanded that his assassin not be worried because he had only obeyed his orders and could not be held responsible for the recklessness of his king.


Election as the new king

As the deceased sovereign left no heir and the astrologers,
Brahmans Brahmin (; ) is a '' varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). The traditional occ ...
, generals and others could not agree on the name of the successor and decided to rely on the deities. To do this, a ceremony is organized where a
white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...
was invited to choose among the most eminent members of the nobility that the empire then counted to determine which was the most eligible to become the new king. The pachyderm very quickly neglected this
areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" (). The name ''Areopagus'' also r ...
and turned towards the crowd who have come to join the celebration and directed itself toward an anonymous person who turned out to be the
regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...
. The dignitaries had to reluctantly accept this monarch of modest extraction, but faced with their hostility, the new king resolved to leave
Angkor Angkor ( , 'capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura (; ),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic Uni ...
for a residence that he had built at
Banteay Samré Banteay Samré ( ; "The Citadel of the Samré") is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, located 400 metres to the east of the East Baray. Built during the reign of Suryavarman II and Yasovarman II in the early 12th century, it is a Hindu temple i ...
; nevertheless this distance did not put an end to the defamatory practices and it was only after having eliminated the faithful of his predecessors that Chay could begin a reign which would prove to be uneventful.


Royal wedding and legitimate descendance

Trasak Paem married Candravati the daughter of his predecessor and the couple would thus be at the origin of the dynasty which still reigns over Cambodia today. According to the ''Chronicles'' King Chay left two sons known by their posthumous names: *
Nippean Bat Nippean Bat (, ), also known as Ponhea Kreak by his personal name, was ruler of the Khmer Empire from 1340 to 1346. Nippean Bat or "Nirvana Pada" was the eldest son of Trasak Paem. According to the Royal Chronicles, he succeeded his father and du ...
(''Nirvanapada'') *
Sithean Reachea Sithean Reachea (, ) or Sidhanta Raja (full regnal name: Brahat Pada Samdach Sdach Rajankariya Brhat Sidhanta Rajadhiraja Ramadipathi) was ruler of the Khmer Empire from 1346 to 1347. Born in 1294, he was the second and youngest son of Trasak Pae ...
(''Sidhanaraja'')


Analysis


Historiography

The legend of Trasak Paem The Cambodian Royal Chronicles give two different accounts of the legend of Trasak Paem, one that happens after the flood of 729, and another one that is placed in 1340, as translated by Jean Moura and Etienne Aymonier. This time gap was filled in by a series of king and led French historiography to explain the little trust that could be given to Cambodian Royal Chronicles in terms of
historical accuracy Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...
. The legend of Trasak Paem has a narrative very similar to one present in the
Burmese Chronicles The royal chronicles of Myanmar ( ; also known as Burmese chronicles) are detailed and continuous chronicles of the Burmese monarchy, monarchy of Myanmar (Burma). The chronicles were written on different media such as parabaik paper, palm-leaf ...
of ''
Maha Yazawin The ''Maha Yazawin'', fully the ''Maha Yazawindawgyi'' (, , Pali : Mahārājavaṃsa) and formerly romanized as the ,. is the first national chronicle of Burma/Myanmar. Completed in 1724 by U Kala, a historian at the Toungoo court, it was the ...
'' and ''
Pagan Yazawin ''Pagan Yazawin'' (; also known as ''Pagan Yazawin Haung'' () is a 16th-century Burmese chronicle that covers the history of the Pagan Dynasty.Lieberman 1986: 236 One palm-leaf manuscript copy of the chronicle is stored at the Universities Histo ...
''. The latter relates who the Bagan dynasty ended the invasion of
Khubilai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the dyn ...
. The Burmese legend probably made into the Khmer Chronicles through a Burmese collection of folk tales known as ''The Precedents of Princess Thoodamma Tsari'' from which other legends were also translated to Khmer. The Burmese legend had been translated into English by
Richard Fleming St Andrew St John Richard Fleming St Andrew St John (1839–1919) of Ealing was an English orientalist. St John's works include readers and guides to the Burmese language, and papers and correspondence in journals of folklore and 'Asiatic studies'. Manuscrip ...
in the ''Burmese Reader'' . In the Burmese folk tale, the time frame, which refers to the land of Parajinaka at the time of
Vessabhū Buddha According to the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', Vessabhū is believed to be the 24th Buddha. He was born in the pleasance of Anoma (Commentary, Anūpama), his father being the khattiya Suppatita (Supatita) and his mother Yasavatī.* He is venerated by the Th ...
and the reign of King Mahamanda, is voluntarily purely fictional. Mahamanda, which means the "frivolous king" in Burmese, translates as Sdach Pal in Khmer, with Sdach meaning "king" and pal meaning "forgetful, idiotic, mean". The correspondence between the two narratives is striking and due to the greater antiquity of the Burmese Chronicle, it is presumable that the Cambodian narrative of Trasak Paem was copied on the latter. In 1905, Trasak Paem was widely believed in Cambodia as a historical figure. In 1965, he was still a common reference in the political debate. By 1995, Trasak Paem had widely been accepted as a legendary rather than historical figure.


Change of court religion

The legend of Trasak Paem seems to symbolize the profound cultural change in the country that
Achille Dauphin-Meunier Achille Dauphin-Meunier (1906–1984) was a French law professor, anarchist, and syndicalist. He was a member of the Club de l'horloge. References Carrefour de l'horloge people 1906 births 1984 deaths 20th-century French economists ...
calls the "14th Century Revolution"., This revolution would correspond with the definitive advent of
Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...
to the detriment of
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
which will experience a rapid decline. The king, until then of divine essence and considered as an intermediary between men and the heavens, suddenly became a simple mortal who owed his throne to the virtues he has accumulated in his lives. The goal for the inhabitants was no longer to build mountain temples that would earn them the favor and protection of the gods, but to follow the virtuous conduct of their king in the hope of reaching plenitude. At that period,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
also ceased to be used in the inscriptions which disappear definitively and in the cult in favor of the Pali.


Botanic discovery of the Khmer rulers

Belgian writer Jean Guillaume, in his research on the history of domesticated food plants, considers that the legend of Trasak Paem may be a myth related to the appearance of a new variety of vegetable, a sweet cucumber, of which Jayavarman would have been so fond that he reserved the crops for himself and putting them under the care of their gardener.


Legacy


Royal regalia: the victory spear

The victory spear (''Preah Lompeng Chey'') associated with the legend of Trasak Paem is one of Khmer royal regalia, along with the royal sword called
Preah Khan Reach Preah Khan Reach () – the Khmer Royal Sacred Sword – is a double-edge straight sword, with a chiseled steel blade sheathed in a jeweled gold scabbard. Though it has disappeared since 1970, it was considered the symbol of Khmer sovereignty ...
, the dagger called Kris given to the Muslim king of Cambodia,
Ramathipadi I Ramathipadi I (; 1614 – 1659), also known as Ponhea Chan ( ), Cau Bana Cand, Botum Reachea I, Nac Cham, or Sultan Ibrahim ( Jawi: سلطان إبراهيم), reigning from 1642 to 1658, was the first and only Cambodian king to convert to I ...
by a Malay princess.


Political reference

Despite being a legendary figure, King Trasak Paem has been a regular reference for modern monarchs of Cambodia. Between 1872 and 1882, King
Norodom Preah Norodom (, ; born Ang Voddey (, ); 3 February 1834 – 24 April 1904) was King of Cambodia from 19 October 1860 to his death on 24 April 1904. He was the eldest son of King Ang Duong and was a half-brother of Prince Si Votha and King ...
made four visits to caves on Phnom Chriev in search of powerful Buddha images supposedly hidden there by legendary king Ta Trasak Paem. King
Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a member of the Cambodian royal house who led the country as King, Chief of State and Prime Minister. In Cambodia, he is known as Samdech Euv (meaning "King Father"). During his lifetim ...
referred to the popular legend of King Trasak Paem, ''a neak mean bon'', to justify his 1955 abdication in favour of his father Suramarit, and his new role as chairman of the ''Sangkum Reastr Niyum''. In fact, Sihanouk described himself as a "very courageous and energetic man as was “Ta Trasak Paem” (the old man with sweet cucumbers) who did not hesitate to slay his King".


Topography

Street 63 in Phnom Penh is also known as Trasak Paem Street. It is next to Khan Châmkar Mon and has a length of 1.99 kilometres.


See Also

*
Khom KHOM (100.9 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve Salem, the county seat of Fulton County, Arkansas. As of July 31, 2013, the station is owned by E-Communications, LLC. Programming KHOM broadcasts a classic hits format to the ...
*
Zhou Daguan Zhou Daguan (; ; c. 1270–?) was a Chinese diplomat of the Yuan dynasty of China, serving under Temür Khan (Emperor Chengzong of Yuan). He is most well known for his accounts of the customs of Cambodia and the Angkor temple complexes during hi ...
*
Historical Negationism Historical negationism, also called historical denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. This is not the same as '' historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic rein ...
* Anti-Khmer sentiment *
Thai nationalism Thai nationalism is a political ideology involving the application of nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to pr ...
*
Nyaung-u Sawrahan Nyaung-u Sawrahan (, ; also Taungthugyi Min c. 924–1001) was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from c. 956 to 1001. Although he is remembered as the Cucumber King in the Burmese chronicles based on a legend, Sawrahan is the earliest ...
Similar story in Burmese history.


References


Bibliography

* Edouard Huber, '' Études indochinoises
Le jardinier régicide qui devint roi
, ulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, 1905, Vol 5,'' *
Achille Dauphin-Meunier Achille Dauphin-Meunier (1906–1984) was a French law professor, anarchist, and syndicalist. He was a member of the Club de l'horloge. References Carrefour de l'horloge people 1906 births 1984 deaths 20th-century French economists ...
, ''Histoire du Cambodge'',
Que sais-je ? "Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...
, P.U.F 1968 * Anthony Stokvis, ''Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les États du globe, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours'', préf. H. F. Wijnman, éditions Brill
Leyde Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connected ...
1888, réédition 1966, Volume 1 Part 1: Asia, chapitre XIV §.9 « Kambodge » Listes et tableau généalogique . * (en) & (de) Peter Truhart, ''Regents of Nations'', K.G Saur Munich, 1984-1988 , Art. « Kampuchea », . {{Monarchs of Cambodia, state=collapsed 1340 deaths 14th-century Cambodian monarchs Articles with missing Wikidata information Regicides Khmer folklore